Bluejay WBB Closes out Year at Butler on Friday

Omaha, Neb. -- Back on the hardwood after the holiday break, the Creighton women's basketball team returns to BIG EAST action on Friday, December 31 at Butler.

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12/31: - 1:00 pm
Creighton (8-3, 3-0 BE) at Butler (1-11, 0-3 BE)

Twitter: @CreightonWBB

Online Stream - FloHoops: Brendan King & Paul Fritschner
https://www.flohoops.com/live/33524

Live Stats:
http://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=373307

Series with Butler: Bluejays Lead 10-8
Home: 4-3 Away: 3-5 Neutral: 3-0
Creighton and Butler have battled back and forth evenly during the regular season with Butler holding a slight edge of 8-7. The three meetings in the BIG EAST Tournament give the Bluejays the series edge as Creighton has claimed all three meetings in the postseason.

Series Game-by-Game
Date   Opponent   Score
1/18/14   at Butler   L, 52-58
3/4/14   Butler   L, 59-67
3/9/14   @ ª vs. Butler   W, 61-52
1/4/15   at Butler   L, 58-63
2/1/15   Butler   W, 62-55
1/10/16   Butler   W, 77-49
2/5/16   at Butler   W, 52-42
12/28/16   Butler   W, 67-52
2/26/17   at Butler   W, 65-53
3/5/17   # ª vs. Butler   W, 64-55
1/9/18   at Butler   L, 53-59
2/18/18   Butler   W, 64-55
1/20/19   Butler   L, 43-75
2/15/19   at Butler   L, 46-66
3/10/19   $ ª vs. Butler   W, 60-51
1/26/20   Butler   L, 67-73
2/21/20   at Butler   L, 61-76
12/6/20   at Butler   W, 88-41

ª - BIG EAST Tournament game
@ = played in Rosemont, Ill.
# = played in Milwaukee, Wis.
$ = played in Chicago, Ill.

Scouting Butler (1-11, 0-3 BIG EAST)
Butler collected their first win of the 2021-22 season just before the holiday break, besting Evansville 75-67 on Dec. 22. The return to the floor did not go as well with the Bulldogs falling to Xavier 77-55.

Butler's woes began in the season opener as Genesis Parker went down with a season-ending injury. Forced to jumble their lineup without a significant contributor, graduate transfer Celena Taborn surged to the forefront. Taborn is the Bulldogs leader with 130 points (14.4 ppg). Taborn also is the team-leader with 5.1 rebounds per game.

The Bulldogs have been challenged defensively, allowing 78.8 points per game. In addition, Butler has committed 253 turnovers in 12 games (an average of 21.1 turnovers per game).

Scouting Creighton (8-3, 3-0 BE)
Creighton remains one of the tougher teams to scout as the Bluejays have been led in scoring by four different players in 11 games and just once has a player led the squad in consecutive games.

Emma Ronsiek is the offensive leader with 13.9 ppg, while reserve Morgan Maly is second on the squad with 11.6 ppg. Creighton has been adept in the early season at sharing the basketball, averaging just under 20 assists per game with 214 assists in nine contests (19.5).

Defensively the Bluejays have been successful at gang rebounding and creating more pressure on the ball this season. The Bluejays are averaging 36.8 rebounds and 14.8 turnovers per contest.

Keys To the Game on Tuesday, Dec. 31

Ball Security: Butler is averaging better than 21 turnovers per game. While the Bluejays have committed 13 per games. For Butler it will be critical to take care of the basketball.
Defending the Paint: Both Creighton and Butler will try to pound the ball inside at different times to Emma Ronsiek and Celena Taborn respectively.
Three-Point Shooting: Creighton has historically held the advantage on Butler from range, yet has shot poorly in Hinkle Fieldhouse. The Bulldogs will need to connect from range 5-7 times to stay in the game with the Bluejays.

Players to Watch for Creighton
Emma Ronsiek and Tatum Rembao: Ronsiek had just 12 points in the Bluejays pair of road wins before the break. Rembao conversely was spectacular with 11 assists against Arkansas.

Bluejays Making Noise Nationally
The Bluejays ability to share and take care of the basketball is typically a strength. During the 2021-22 season Creighton ranks in top-10 in the NCAA in both assists-per-game and assist-to-turnover ratio.

Creighton is among the nation's top-25 in four other categories, while Tatum Rembao sits in the top 15 individually in assists-per-game and assist-to-turnover ratio.

Creighton WBB
Category   Rank   Value
Assist-to-Turnover   4   1.50
Assists per game   4   19.5
Assists   12   214
Three-Point FG Made   25   100
Three-Point FG Made Per Game   20   9.1
Three-Point FG Percentage   25   36.5

Tatum Rembao
Category   Rank   Value
Assist-to-Turnover   9   3.20
Assists per game   15   5.8
Assists   21   64

Five Bluejays Reach Double-Figures
Creighton's 81-72 win at Arkansas on Dec. 21 marked the first time since Feb. 20. 2021 that five Bluejays reached double-figures. Morgan Maly led the way with 20 points, followed by Lauren Jensen (15), Rachael Saunders (12), Carly Bachelor (11) and Molly Mogensen (11).

The last time a quintet posted double-digits came in the Bluejays' 83-72 win at No. 19 DePaul when Emma Ronsiek led the charge with 27 points. The other four were Temi Carda (18), Carly Bachelor (13), Payton Brotzki (11) and Morgan Maly (10).

Rembao is Always Giving Near the Holidays
Tatum Rembao served up 11 assists in the 81-72 win at Arkansas (Dec. 21), the third time in her career she has passed out double-digit assists. The last time was a career-high 14 helpers against No. 18 DePaul on Dec. 22, 2020.

Maly's Performance in Fayetteville Rates for a Spot on the BIG EAST Honor Roll
Sophomore Morgan Maly equaled a career-high with 20 points in the win at Arkansas (Dec. 21). Maly connected on 8-of-13 shots to earn a spot on BIG EAST Honor Roll on Dec. 27.

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Players Mentioned

Carly Bachelor

Payton Brotzki

Temi Carda

Lauren Jensen

Morgan Maly

Molly Mogensen

Tatum Rembao

Emma Ronsiek

Rachael Saunders